Branko Milanovic
Biographic Data
| ID | 295677 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Branko Milanovic |
| GIVEN NAMES | Branko |
| FAMILY NAME | Milanovic |
| SIGNATURE | MILANOVIC B |
| AFFILIATIONS | World Bank |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7906-5696 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 73 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 336 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 72 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1987 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Is the System of Nation‐States Doomed
The intelligentsia of money‐grubbing
Growth with economic and political equality
Growth with economic and political equality
Anti-corruption campaign in China
We create a database of officials who have been found guilty of corruption in China in the period 2012-21 with their personal characteristics and the amount of embezzled funds. We use it to investigate the correlates of corruption, estimate the effects of corruption on inequality, and find the expected increase in officials' income due to corruption and the gain in income distribution ranking. We find that the amount of corruption is positively a…
The three eras of global inequality, 1820–2020 with the focus on the past thirty years
How rich were the rich? An empirically-based taxonomy of pre-industrial bases of wealth
Visions of Inequality
Branko Milanovic charts 200 years of the fascinating history of the discourse on inequality through portraits of six key economists, from Quesnay to Kuznets. In their work and lives, we see how differently each conceived of inequality, and how the subject, prominent in their times, was eclipsed during the Cold War and has become central once again.
Anti-Corruption Campaign in China
Equality can divide
Drawing a Line
From workers to capitalists in less than two generations
Economic and social transformation of China during the past 40 years is without precedent in human history. While the economic transformation was extensively studied, social transformation was not. In this paper, we use for the first time harmonized household surveys covering the period 1988-2013 to study the changes in the characteristics of the richest 5 percent of China's urban population. We find that it changed from being composed of high go…
The real urban wage in an agricultural economy without landless farmers
This article presents the first estimates of the welfare ratio for Serbia using nineteenth- and early twentieth-century data on the wages of skilled and unskilled workers (including the part paid in kind) and the prices of goods in 'subsistence' and 'respectability' consumption baskets. It finds stagnation in the unskilled wage, and a modest increase in the skilled wage. The article introduces several adjustments to conventional methodology in or…
Le capitalisme, sans rival
Capitalism, Alone
Capitalism, Alone
For the first time in history, the globe is dominated by one economic system. Capitalism prevails because it delivers prosperity and meets desires for autonomy. But it also is unstable and morally defective. Surveying the varieties and futures of capitalism, Branko Milanovic offers creative solutions to improve a system that isn't going anywhere
Towards an explanation of inequality in premodern societies
Using a newly expanded set of 41 social tables from premodern societies, this article tries to identify the factors associated with the level of inequality and the inequality extraction ratio (how close to the maximum inequality the elites have pushed actual inequality). Strong evidence is found to show that elites in colonies were more extractive, and that more densely populated and less urbanized countries exhibited lower extraction ratios. Sev…
Increasing Capital Income Share and Its Effect on Personal Income Inequality
Piketty's r>g implies an increase in capital-output ratio and in the share of capital income in net output. But it still does not guarantee the increase in personal income inequality. We derive the conditions for the pass-through from the rise in the share of capital income to greater personal income inequality. They have to do with the concentration of income from capital and its association with higher overall income. A key way to break the pas…
After Piketty
Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century is the most widely discussed work of economics in recent history, selling millions of copies in dozens of languages. But are its analyses of inequality and economic growth on target? Where should researchers go from here in exploring the ideas Piketty pushed to the forefront of global conversation? A cast of economists and other social scientists tackle these questions in dialogue with Piketty,…
Globalization and inequality
Global Inequality
Global Income Distribution
We present an improved panel database of national household surveys between 1988 and 2008. In 2008, the global Gini index is around 70.5%, having declined by approximately 2 Gini points. China graduated from the bottom ranks, changing a twin-peaked global income distribution to a single-peaked one and creating an important global “median” class. 90% of the fastest growing country-deciles are from Asia, while almost 90% of the worst performers are…
Global Inequality of Opportunity
Suppose that all people in the world are allocated only two characteristics over which they have (almost) no control: country of residence and income distribution within that country. Assume further that there is no migration. We show that more than one-half of variability in income of world population classified according to their household per capita in 1% income groups (by country) is accounted for by these two characteristics. The role of eff…
Inequality is Bad for Growth of the Poor (But Not for That of the Rich)
The paper investigates the relationship between income inequality and future income growth rates of households at different points of the income distribution. The analysis uses micro-census data from U.S. states covering the period from 1960 to 2010, and controls for exposure to imports from China and share of routine jobs, among other variables. It finds evidence that high levels of inequality reduce the income growth of the poor but, if anythin…
Die ungleiche Welt
Pre‐Industrial Inequality
Is inequality largely the result of the Industrial Revolution? Or, were pre‐industrial incomes as unequal as they are today? This article infers inequality across individuals within each of the 28 pre‐industrial societies, for which data were available, using what are known as social tables. It applies two new concepts: the inequality possibility frontier and the inequality extraction ratio. They compare the observed income inequality to the maxi…
True World Income Distribution, 1988 and 1993
The paper derives world income or expenditure distribution of individuals for 1988 and 1993. It is the first paper to calculate world distribution for individuals based entirely on household surveys from 91 countries, and adjusted for differences in purchasing power parity between countries. Measured by the Gini index, inequality increased from 63 in 1988 to 66 in 1993. The increase was driven more by differences in mean incomes between countries…
Explaining Regional Autonomy Differences in Decentralized Countries
Why do groups want to secede and where is demand for self-determination most likely to arise? We argue self-determination demand is moderated by the projected economic costs of policy autonomy. The trade-off between income and sovereignty implies that, other things being equal, richer regions are more likely to demand more autonomy. This trade-off suggests that relative regional income is a key predictor of autonomy demands. We show evidence of t…
The Two Faces of Globalization
Government turnover
While government turnover is often thought of as an adverse source of instability, it may also be viewed as a favourable source of competition and institution‐building. To articulate and test such hypotheses, this article describes two main concepts of government turnover: leadership turnover, or change in rulers, and ideological turnover, or change in the rulers' ideology. Refinements involve the mode, outcome and timing of turnover. The article…
Globalization and goals
Soccer (football in the non-American terminology) is the most globalized sport. Free circulation of players has markedly increased during the last ten to fifteen years as limits on the number of foreign players in the European leagues have been lifted, and clubs have become more commercially minded. On the other hand, the rules governing national team competition have remained restrictive: players can play only for the country where they were bor…
A short history of global inequality
The three eras of global inequality, 1820–2020 with the focus on the past thirty years
Towards an explanation of inequality in premodern societies
Using a newly expanded set of 41 social tables from premodern societies, this article tries to identify the factors associated with the level of inequality and the inequality extraction ratio (how close to the maximum inequality the elites have pushed actual inequality). Strong evidence is found to show that elites in colonies were more extractive, and that more densely populated and less urbanized countries exhibited lower extraction ratios. Sev…
Global inequality recalculated and updated
From workers to capitalists in less than two generations
Economic and social transformation of China during the past 40 years is without precedent in human history. While the economic transformation was extensively studied, social transformation was not. In this paper, we use for the first time harmonized household surveys covering the period 1988-2013 to study the changes in the characteristics of the richest 5 percent of China's urban population. We find that it changed from being composed of high go…
Are Liberal Peoples Peaceful
The real urban wage in an agricultural economy without landless farmers
This article presents the first estimates of the welfare ratio for Serbia using nineteenth- and early twentieth-century data on the wages of skilled and unskilled workers (including the part paid in kind) and the prices of goods in 'subsistence' and 'respectability' consumption baskets. It finds stagnation in the unskilled wage, and a modest increase in the skilled wage. The article introduces several adjustments to conventional methodology in or…
Half a World
The paper studies regional (spatial) inequality in the five most populous countries in the world: China, India, the United States, Indonesia, and Brazil in the period 1980-2000. They are all federations or quasi-federations composed of entities with substantial economic autonomy. Two types of regional inequalities are considered: Concept 1 inequality, which is inequality between mean incomes (GDP per capita) of states/provinces, and Concept 2 ine…
Poland's quest for economic stabilisation, 1988–91
Patterns of regional growth in Yugoslavia, 1952–83
Hungary
Journal Article Hungary: An Economy in Transition Get access Hungary: An Economy in Transition. Edited by (ISTVAN P.) Szekely and (DAVID G.) Newbery. (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993. Pp. xxvii + 360. £40.00 hardback. ISBN 0 521 44018 1.) Branko Milanovic Branko Milanovic The World Bank Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 104, Issue 425, 1 July 1994, Pages …
How rich were the rich? An empirically-based taxonomy of pre-industrial bases of wealth
Responding to Globalization
The article addresses some of the major themes influencing the development and reform of social policy in emerging market economies. It is argued in the first section that growing concern with social policy is largely associated with the increasing openness of these economies – globalization – and the new systemic risks that domestic economies now face. We look at the broad reform trends that seem to be shaping the social policy agenda around the…
Introduction to a special issue on “inequality, politics and power”
La desigualdad de la distribución de la renta en América Latina
El presente trabajo analiza el nivel de desigualdad en la distribución de la renta existente en América Latina a comienzos del siglo XXI así como su evolución en las últimas décadas, todo ello desde una perspectiva comparada tanto intracontinental (entre los distintos países de América Latina), como entre ésta y otras regiones del mundo. En segundo lugar se estudia cuál ha sido el comportamiento de la desigualdad en las últimas décadas. En tercer…
Patterns of regional growth in Yugoslavia, 1952–83
The Transition from socialism in Eastern Europe
No AccessRegional and Sectoral Studies1 Feb 2013The Transition from socialism in Eastern EuropeDomestic restructuring and foreign tradeAuthors/Editors: Arye L. Hillman, Branko MilanovicArye L. Hillman, Branko Milanovichttps://doi.org/10.1596/0-8213-2148-XSectionsAboutPDF (0.9 MB) ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareFacebookTwitterLinked In Abstract:The transition from socialism to a market economy in Eastern Europe encompa…
Suton socijalistickih privreda
Poland's quest for economic stabilisation, 1988–91
Hungary
Journal Article Hungary: An Economy in Transition Get access Hungary: An Economy in Transition. Edited by (ISTVAN P.) Szekely and (DAVID G.) Newbery. (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993. Pp. xxvii + 360. £40.00 hardback. ISBN 0 521 44018 1.) Branko Milanovic Branko Milanovic The World Bank Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 104, Issue 425, 1 July 1994, Pages …
Explaining the Increase in Inequality during the Transition
The transition from planned to market economy has witnessed one of the biggest and fastest increases in inequality ever recorded. Onaverage, inequality in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union increased from a Gini coefficient of 25-28 (below the OECD [Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development]average) to 35-38 (above OECD average) in less than 10 years. In some countries, such as Bulgaria, Russia, and Ukraine, the increase in ine…
Poverty and Social Assistance in Transition Countries
Declining incomes and growing income inequality have led to a rise in poverty in the transition economies of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. This study examines poverty and social assistan
Change in the Perception of the Poverty Line during Times of Depression
Economic transition in Russia was accompanied by a precipitous decline in real income for most of the population. How was people's perception of a minimum income level needed to survive affected by such a rapid decline in their incomes? Based on individual-level data collected from repeated surveys over the period March 1993-September 1996, we find that the subjective estimate of a minimum income for an adult Russian decreased by about 1.7 percen…
Poverty and the Economic Transition
No AccessPolicy Research Working Papers21 Jun 2013Poverty and the Economic Transition: How Do Changes in Economies of Scale Affect Poverty Rates for Different Households?Authors/Editors: Branko Milanovic, Peter Lanjouw, Stefano PaternostroBranko Milanovic, Peter Lanjouw, Stefano Paternostrohttps://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-2009SectionsAboutPDF (0.1 MB) ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareFacebookTwitterLinked In Abstract:N…
True World Income Distribution, 1988 and 1993
Inequality in world income is very high, according to household surveys, more because of differences between mean country incomes than because of inequality within countries. World inequality increased between 1988 and 1993, driven by slower growth in rural per capita incomes in populous Asian countries (Bangladesh, China, and India) than in large, rich OECD countries, and by increasing income differences between urban China on the one hand and r…
The median-voter hypothesis, income inequality, and income redistribution
Poverty and Social Assistance in Transition Countries
This study examines poverty and social assistance in six countries - Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Estonia, Russia, and Kyrgyz Republic - comparing the poverty profiles and the correlates of poverty between the two regions. The study finds that the profile of poverty is more sharply defined in Eastern Europe than in the former Soviet Union, where poverty is more widespread. This holds the potential for better targeting of social assistance in Easter…
Decomposing World Income Distribution
In Asia inequality in income between countries is more important than inequality within countries. In Africa, Latin America, and western Europe and North America, by contrast, there are only small differences between countries; inequality within countries is more important. And when countries are divided in three groups by income level, there is little overlap, very few people in developing countries have incomes in the range of those in the rich…
Responding to Globalization
The article addresses some of the major themes influencing the development and reform of social policy in emerging market economies. It is argued in the first section that growing concern with social policy is largely associated with the increasing openness of these economies – globalization – and the new systemic risks that domestic economies now face. We look at the broad reform trends that seem to be shaping the social policy agenda around the…
Does Liberté=Egalité? A Survey of the Empirical Links between Democracy and Inequality
The effect of the distribution of political rights on income inequality has been studied both theoretically and empirically. The authors review the existing literature and, in particular, the available empirical evidence. The literature suggests that formal exclusion from the political process through restrictions on the voting franchise appears to have caused a high degree of economic inequality. And democratization in the form of franchise expa…
Decomposing World Income Distribution
Using the national income/expenditure distribution data from 111 countries, we decompose total inequality between the individuals in the world, by continents and regions. We use Yitzhaki’s Gini decomposition which allows for an exact breakdown of the Gini. We find that Asia is the most heterogeneous continent; between‐country inequality is much more important than inequality in incomes within countries. At the other extreme is Latin America where…
Can We Discern the Effect of Globalization on Income Distribution? Evidence from Household Budget Surveys
The effects of globalization on income distribution in author finds some evidence that at very low average rich and poor countries are a matter of controversy
True World Income Distribution, 1988 and 1993
The paper derives world income or expenditure distribution of individuals for 1988 and 1993. It is the first paper to calculate world distribution for individuals based entirely on household surveys from 91 countries, and adjusted for differences in purchasing power parity between countries. Measured by the Gini index, inequality increased from 63 in 1988 to 66 in 1993. The increase was driven more by differences in mean incomes between countries…
Odgovor na globalizaciju
Rad se bavi glavnim temama koje utjecu na razvoj i reformu socijalne politike u novim tržisnim ekonomijama. U prvom se dijelu raspravlja o rastucem pitanju povezanosti socijalne politike sa sve vecom otvorenoscu ekonomija – globalizacija – i novim sustavnim rizicima s kojima su sada suocena gospodarstva mnogih zemalja. Promatramo prosirene trendove reforme koji oblikuju prioritete socijalne politike diljem svijeta, posebice privatizaciju socijaln…
Is Inequality in Africa Really Different
High inequality in Africa is something of a paradox: Africa should be a low-inequality continent according to the Kuznets hypothesis (because African countries are poor and agriculture-based), and also because land (the main asset) is widely shared. The author's hypothesis is that African inequality is politically determined. Yet in the empirical analysis, despite the introduction of several political variables, there is still an inequality-incre…
The Two Faces of Globalization
A World of Paranoia
Income and influence social policy in emerging market economies
Can We Discern the Effect of Globalization on Income Distribution? Evidence from Household Surveys
Half a World
The paper studies regional (spatial) inequality in the five most populous countries in the world: China, India, the United States, Indonesia, and Brazil in the period 1980-2000. They are all federations or quasi-federations composed of entities with substantial economic autonomy. Two types of regional inequalities are considered: Concept 1 inequality, which is inequality between mean incomes (GDP per capita) of states/provinces, and Concept 2 ine…
Economics (55 works) · Political science (45 works) · Inequality (41 works) · Income, Poverty, and Inequality (35 works) · Mathematics (33 works) · Demographic economics (23 works) · Law (23 works) · Geography (21 works) · Development economics (20 works) · Politics (19 works)